A/N: Sorry for being inactive for ALMOST TWO MONTHS. I'll (Try) not to do it again. Go ahead, slap me in the face. No, punch me. Do it hard, too. Record it and upload it to YouTube, I don't know!
WARNING: Plot point completely un-foreshadowed (Last one, I promise). But this chapter's EXTREMELY important to the story, so yeah...
Oh, and 104 Days of Summer Vacation got deleted for a REASON, y'know...
And There's a change in format.
And now, Chapter IX.
Chapter Nine
Ralph and Felix were still in pursuit of Benedict and Seamus, who had seemingly left no traces of their presence, other than footprints.
"Hey Felix, look!" Ralph called over to Felix. "Footprints!"
Ralph didn't know what Benedict's footprints or Seamus' footprints looked like. But there were two trails of footprints, both with the Nike Swoosh logo, that could potentially lead to the crooks.
"These footprints," Ralph said. "Could lead us to those... Uh... You get the point, Felix!"
Felix was unsure. Ralph had been acting suspicious lately. Was it a joke? Was Ralph acting insecure to gather attention? Was...
Was Ralph the bad guy all along?
No. It couldn't have. Ralph discovered that, with Vanellope and others by his side, he was NOT bad by heart! He was truly a good guy! The "Bad Guy" in him was just for his role in his game! It wasn't who Ralph truly was!
But Felix didn't want to take chances. He was unsure, those could be a trap. "Ralph, we don't know those are their footprints, can we find another clue?
Ralph was fully convinced those were their footprints. "Felix, these could be their footprints! I know it! And if I need to find them on my own, then I will!" And with that, Ralph followed the footprints.
Felix didn't know if Ralph's decision was the right thing. Sure, Benedict and Seamus did some... Questionable... Things to himself and Ralph, but did they do anything to everybody else? Vanellope, Spamley, the racers, Calhoun? Sure, they attempted to kill everybody in Bobby's hut, including Calhoun, but...
Never mind. Felix followed Ralph over the trail of footprints.
Ares took Candlehead outside the mansion's door. The rain was still pouring, but it was starting to clear up. Candlehead was holding a black umbrella to protect her candle.
"Now," Ares said. "I suggest we get on my horse." Ares whistled for horse. It was a black stallion, with a long, gray tail and a combed, gray mane. The saddle was brown and made from leather, had a saddle bag, and a shotgun on the side.
"Now, I'm gonna need you to get on first because you're taller than my 35-year-old ah-, I mean, butt."
Ares boosted Candlehead on the horse. Candlehead grabbed Ares' hand and boosted him onto the horse.
"Alright," Ares said. "Let's go get that tyrant!"
"Uh, okay..." Candlehead said the second before they took off.
Calhoun exited the mansion through the back to avoid being seen. There, suprisingly, was no wall behind the mansion. And there was a cold, wet, field from the rain.
Suddenly, a ninja jumped off the roof. He landed perfectly on the ground and looked at Calhoun.
Calhoun looked at the ninja. He was tall, about as tall as Calhoun herself, and he wore all black.
"Whoever you are," Calhoun said. "Take off the mask."
"Sure thing, Calhoun," He said in a deep, Darth Vader-like voice.
That was weird. How did the ninja know her name?
The ninja removed his mask. He had brown, curly hair and an extremely handsome face.
"How..." Calhoun asked, in complete awe. "How did you... Know my name?"
"Oh, well," The ninja said. "Piracy. Our developers stole trademarks, and now I know what Hero's Duty is. We're a crap game."
"Do you have a name?" Calhoun asked him in a detective-like manner.
"Yes, actually," The ninja said. "Coperticus Knight."
Ares took the horse behind the mansion. "Sorry, Candlehead, I need to get somethin'."
Ares turned around the back, and...
There was Calhoun.
Candlehead was positive, just like she had always been. "Hi, Mom! We're just-"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
Candlehead jolted back. "Woah! Hey, Mom, you don't need to get TOO crazy here, this world's crazy enough!"
Calhoun got angrier. "CRAZY? YOU'RE CRAZY! YOU KNOW THE RULES! YOU KNOW YOU'D JUST DIE HERE AND NEVER REGENERATE!"
Candlehead stammered. "Uh, well, I, uh, Yeah..."
Calhoun calmed down a bit. She sighed. "Candlehead, I understand you want to help. But this ain't no place for kids. This is some-" She was interrupted by the sound of shooting. She looked at a house in the town, exposed by a broken wall. There was a family inside, seen behind a boarded window. Soldiers were shooting at the house. They shot for about five seconds before one of the soldiers busted down the door and shot at the family inside.
Candlehead looked at Calhoun, then at Coperticus. "Hey, Mr. Ninja, who are you?"
Coperticus looked down at her. "Coperticus. But you can call me Coperticus. It's a weird name, I know." He then faced Ares. "Hey, Ares. Nice hat."
Ares smirked. "Thanks, man! How's the whole 'Fugitive from the Law' thing holding up for you? How's the fire breath?"
"Well, Ares, fire breath's burned everything I've ever owned, including my hair spray, so I took a 35-pound pill to get rid of it, and the Sherrif caught me while I was stealing some guy's harmonica. Gotta admit, the Old West must've sucked."
Ares walked towards Coperticus. "Coperticus, I want you to meet Candlehead. She's KIND OF helping us. But her six foot-one mom is making it hard for all of us right now."
Calhoun heard this. "Little man, I don't know who you are, but you're messin' with someone you're not supposed to mess with. So BACK OFF! If you know what's good for you."
"Name's Beardy Monacle, Ma'am! But please, Call me Ares."
"Interesting name... Alright, Monacle-"
Ares interrupted her. "It's Ares. 'Air-Ees' Ares."
She huffed slightly. "Ares. What are you doing with Candlehead? What's this... Thing, you've got goin' on here?"
"We're overthrowin' a tyranny. 'King Stephen IX,' to be exact." He even put it in air quotes. "But I don't think he is."
"Hmm..." Calhoun was thinking. Why would Ares be GOING AGAINST a potential part of the game? A coding bug, maybe? "Well, Ares, he's a part of the game-"
Ares interrupted her. "Oh, Game, Schmamme! This game's a big pile of piracy! It's not even playable! Your arcade owner guy got ripped off BIG TIME!" He continued, to the point of rambling. "Like, this game has no genre, no objectives, underdeveloped characters! Everything about this game's a BUTTLOAD of idiocracy! It's an EMBARRASSMENT to the WHOLE GAME INDUSTRY! I hope your arcade guy gets justice!"
Candlehead was in awe, with her jaw dropped to the edge of space. Those were big words, especially for her.
Calhoun looked at Ares, then at Coperticus, then Candlehead, then back to Ares. "This man's still a part of your game... Doesn't matter if your game's not the best game out there... Doesn't matter if your game ain't that famous... The ONLY WAY...that THAT MAN WOULDN'T BE IMPORTANT... is if you got unplugged..."
Ares thought hard. How would he be able to convince this attractive lady body-clad in armor? But then...
Shooting increased through town. The rain cleared. It got so bad that the town started to light on fire, even on wet ground.
This gave Ares an idea. "Ma'am, he's shooting at those people! And that whole 'regenerating' thing, that dosen't even apply to them! He's destroying this game, and we need to seduce him!"
Calhoun looked at the town again, the town in hellish, violent flames. Every soldier, just shooting into people's homes. The castle shooting an intense, red beacon bright enough to attract Cy-Bugs. Directed at the town. People just... Dying No regeneration, just... Dying. The incompetent developers had forgotten to program it in.
Calhoun sighed. "Okay. You can go talk to him. But don't overthrow him. He needs to be king for the game."
Ares jumped in the air, fists up, punching the sky. "Woo-hoo!"
Coperticus looked at him. "So am I done here?"
Ares smirked.
"Yes, Go on, scavenge!"
Ralph and Felix had been led to a door by the footprints. The door was a metal door, mounted into the ground, had a handle with a lock, and had a lot of dirt on it. It had to lead somewhere.
"The door's locked..." Felix muttered.
"Leave it to me," Ralph told him. With that, Ralph used his wrecking ball-like hands to POUND the door open. "Easy peasy," Ralph said with a grin.
With that, they climbed into the hole.
Ares and Candlehead got on Ares' horse again to get to the town. Ares exited the mansion's concrete road, then got on a dirt road lined with steet lamps and garbage cans. It looked horrible.
He thought now was the time to apologize. "Candlehead?" He said without looking at her.
Candlehead looked at him. "Yeah?"
He sighed. "I'm sorry I tried to kill you back there. I don't know what happened. My hatred of kids or something, I don't know!"
Candlehead looked at him. She, despite her simple mind, still understood that he was apologizing. For striking her down.
But Candlehead was nice and forgiving to everybody, even something on this magnitude. "It's okay, Ares. But I'm pie-ing you at the New Year's party."
Ares Got a confused look on his face. "Party? We don't have parties here."
"Well, Ares," Candlehead told him. "In this arcade, we have parties every Friday! And you're invited to the New Year's party!" She handed him a pink envelope. He took the envelope. It smelled like cotton candy.
He opened the envelope. It looked very good to eat. The candy paper inside read:
INVITATION TO:
NEW YEAR'S 2021
12/29/20 - 1/2/21
LOCATION: FINISH LINE, SUGAR RUSH
BRING SNICKERS!
Ares put it in his pocket. "Thanks. You invite people?"
"Yep!" She confirmed.
"I'll be there," Ares said. And then, something caught his eye.
It was a poster on one of the street lamps. He grabbed it off the lamp as he passed by. Ares was shocked by what it read:
WANTED
BEARDY MONACLE
WANTED FOR THEFT
REWARD: $15,000
Oh, no was all he could think. Wanted? For $15,000? That was a lot of money to catch one man and bring him to the Sherrif alive. Especially for theft.
Candlehead noticed Ares was shaking. "What's wrong?"
Ares turned back. "Candlehead, I think we're dead meat."
Ralph and felix were climbing down the ladder. Felix went down the ladder, fixing parts that Ralph accidentally broke on the way down. At the bottom was a Greek-style chamber. With Benedict and Seamus at the end.
Benedict noticed them. "Uh-oh."
Ralph stepped foward. "C'mon, guys, let's talk!"
End of Chapter Nine
A/N: No, Ralph is no BAD bad guy. He's not any twist villian. That's just suspicions.
Oh, and Calhoun can't go down that easy, but screw it, it's for the story.
Speaking of which, no more neglecting the story for two months. I'm going straight. Not a new chapter every day, obviously, but no two-month-long breaks. I'm done pulling that stunt.
The story any good? Yes or No? I don't know anymore. I'm out of ideas. See you later.
